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Tuesday, 7 November 2017

sustainable shopping: how to rock white sneakers in The Conversation

G'day!

I was asked to write this article for The Conversation, one of my favourite news websites because, as its tagline suggests, the articles are written with "academic rigour & journalistic flair".

So many articles floating around our social media newsfeeds (even from so-called "news" websites) are filled with opinion or hearsay rather than research. I'm not claiming to be a perfect researcher or writer, even I occasionally fall into the habit of making generalisations and assumptions based on things I read years ago. But the team at The Conversation are incredibly dedicated to having references for every claim, making its articles richly researched and backed up with fact. (They came back to me with plenty of questions and requests for sources/references backing up everything I wrote in my first draft of this article - they kept me on my toes!)

It's wonderful to know there are people dedicated to understanding the truth and not just opinion, don't you think? Here's the beginning of the article and link to the complete article on their website - enjoy! And please ask any questions or make any requests in these comments or on The Conversation's website.

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White sneakers look great with nearly everything on nearly everybody, so it’s no surprise they’re having a fashion moment. Adidas sold eight million pairs of their iconic Stan Smiths in 2015 (and that doesn’t include the lookalikes).

The only caveat I will add here about my admiration of The Conversation, is that I was disappointed they took out my comments regarding Adidas. Of course I love supporting small, independent, change-making brands (I'm sure you know that by now!), but Adidas has not been resting on its laurels. The company is taking strides toward sustainable material production and ethical labour practices. They are not perfect, but they are making a start, and I think that deserves some recognition.